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Medieval Courts Put Murderous Pigs on Trial and the Records Are Stranger Than Fiction ZME Science

Artist Builds a Fully Stocked Bird-Sized Bar to Make Friends With the Local Crows Laughing Squid

Lettuce supplier is potential source of cyclosporiasis outbreak, investigators say WaPo

The images and air quality numbers coming out of affected areas of Canada and the US are shocking. Hope NC readers are staying safe out there.

Wildfire Smoke Is Health-Ruining. Here’s How to Prevent Heart and Lung Damage Wired

Air quality is the worst in these US cities amid Canada wildfires USA Today

Why the United States Keeps Choking on Canadian Smoke Colin McCarthy

When fire behaviour becomes extreme, you’re not getting close to them.

The radiant heat from a crown fire is face-melting from hundreds of metres away.

A major new wildfire outbreak is now underway across interior Pacific Northwest, with dozens (or more) new wildfires already popping up in eastern Oregon & Washington following tens of thousands of lightning strikes in region experiencing moderate to extreme drought. #ORwx #WAwx pic.twitter.com/t6dxb6fV9q

Seeding clouds with seawater could change Earth’s weather and prevent a super El Nino: Study Down to Earth

Measles cases in 2026 are set to surpass last year’s total. Here’s why ABC News

ACIP vote on combo measles vaccine could especially affect families in greater need CIDRAP

AI Diplomacy Divides the World: U.S. Rallies Allies with Pax Silica, China Launches WAICO for the Global South George Chen

Why is Trump Trying to Start a New War with China? Larry Johnson

China’s ‘Green Great Wall’ tames desert growth, but scientists warn the fight is not over AP

Israeli war chief tells Pentagon that occupation forces will remain in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza The Cradle

Vance throwing dirt at Israel and promoting the fantasy of a schism between Israel and the US is obvious psyop. In fact, it is the most telltale sign that the US is about to embark on a major escalation – together with Israel. Most likely, the decision to start a bigger war and… https://t.co/L4JKMVLuWb

Shahid Baqaei Hospital, a children’s cancer treatment centre in Ahvaz, was evacuated last night after the US attacked a nearby location.

This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the… pic.twitter.com/xv3W7SY2X9

US Navy’s Iran deployment exposes an empire stretched to the limit Al Mayadeen Ansarallah Vows to Block Saudi Access to Bab al-Mandab After Strikes on Sana’a Drop Site

US Approves Nearly $2 Billion Arms Sale for Saudi Arabia After Escalation in Yemen Antiwar

Why is it so difficult (and crazy expensive) to fly within Africa? Ken Opalo

Of heroes and hero worship? Some musings on the first chapter of ‘The Big Conservation Lie’ by John Mbaria and Mordecai Ogada Review of African Political Economy

EU takes inspiration from Trump with bonfire of banking rules Politico

Fears over foreign influence in France, as Musk backs Le Pen presidential bid Radio France Internationale

Meloni shaken as her own allies torpedo flagship reform Intellinews

Political Crisis in Kiev as Shrinking Zelensky Ousts Popular Defense Minister Simplicius

Scott Ritter v. Gilbert Doctorow: Is Russia Losing the War? Natylie’s Place

Watters: Women on base, you better be careful. Port calls, women in Asia, you better be careful. Because these guys are going to be wild animals and you better watch out. pic.twitter.com/R95gFpYEmA

U.S. Navy Just Detonated “Experimental Explosion” Off Florida Coast Inside the Magic

Senior defense officials looking at Cuba military options CBS News

Trump declassifies intelligence claiming Chinese interference in 2020 US elections France24

‘Trump Is Trying to End Our Democracy’: Alarm as President Attacks Elections Ahead of Midterms Common Dreams

We watched Trump’s dangerous and deranged speech so you don’t have to. Here are the moments you need to know about:

— He openly laid groundwork to challenge the midterms. He claimed our elections were “compromised,” clearly setting up the justification to tamper with results… pic.twitter.com/5Qg3yzU3jJ

Miller Labels Leftists a “Cancer” That World Must “Root Out” in Fascistic Speech Truthout

Stephen Miller says NSPM-7 will lead to the debanking, defunding and disruption of left-wing “political terrorists that are operating in our country.” pic.twitter.com/f8149D3r52

Marco Rubio says Antifa is being directly aided by Iran and Cuba through a massive international network that seeks to attack the West with terrorism and propaganda.

“They despise the West because the West is great.” pic.twitter.com/20o7JSLdKY

Husband of Code Pink founder being investigated under federal foreign agent and tax lawsCBS News

Exclusive: Truth Social to license its data to Wall Street Axios

Trump Teleprompter Operator On Leave After Betting On President’s Speeches HuffPost

Performative Voting: Voting “Against” “Aid” When “Netanyahu” Says he Doesn’t Want It Sam Husseini

SoftBank CEO Says You’re Too Stupid to Understand What’s Going on If You Believe the AI Bubble Is Real Futurism

Secretive Silicon Valley Startup Tries to Quash Interview, Says It’s Definitely Not Working on Growing Brain-Free “Organ Sacks” Futurism

Could you score a World Cup penalty kick? Many men say yes YouGov

How Matt Taibbi’s ‘Anatomy of a Struggle Session’ Article Is Detached From Reality. The Dissident

Inside RFK Jr.’s push to dismantle decades of U.S. vaccine policy CNN

She Blew It: CDC Director Nominee Tanks in Senate Hearing MedPage Today

Kalshi pulls plug on planned flight cancellation contracts Fortune

The Globalisation of Markets and the Localisation of Hunger Ann Pettifor

No idea why Trump is doing something so stupid. He has turned the war with Iran hot again while he enables long range missiles strikes into Russia. This being the case, he has decided that the best thing that he can do is pick a fight with China again. President Xi is supposed to visit the US in September but if Trump keeps this up, perhaps Xi will call the visit off to a more better time. Say, after the 2028 US Federal election? I do have my suspicions here. I am given to understand that elections in the US are run by the individual States and not the Federal government. And for months Trump has tried to blackmail individual States to get them to hand over to him their electoral rolls. (Maybe he should have asked the Chinese to do it for him based on his rant.) Whatever. So perhaps Trump wants to throw out the idea that it should be the Federal government that organizes Federal elections and not the States. I think that requires a change to the US Constitution but maybe one of Trump’s lawyers assures him that all he would need to do is to make a Presidential finding and then it could be done. Trump does have a habit of ignoring laws remember so perhaps this is on his mind.

Crazy. And contrast with Bloomberg piece we had in Links yesterday: Trump’s Aides See China Cheating on Trade, But Shun Retaliation Bloomberg https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/trump-aides-see-china-cheating-163826999.html

“Medieval Courts Put Murderous Pigs on Trial and the Records Are Stranger Than Fiction”

I read how in Roman times that if a child chocked to death on say an apple, then they would put that tree on trial for their death. And if found guilty, they would chop down that tree an burn it. Did it bring back that kid? No, but it may have helped those parents get some closure. Years ago here in Oz I read about a circus worker that was walking by an elephant when it grabbed the guy and killed him. A tragedy to be sure. But then I read how this elephant had done the same to this woman and before her another person. That is three deaths but people defended that elephant. It was then I began to wonder if those Romans had a point.

Maybe, but compare and contrast with the bison that recently yeeted a tourist who deserved it. As they often do.*

Our ancestors knew enough not to mess with the Pleistocene Ice Age Megafauna.** Perhaps some chlorine in the ol’ gene pool is not a bad idea.

*despite all warnings to the contrary. To the tourists, not the bison.

**unless, you know, it was lunchtime, in which case our ancestors would use sharp sticks and extreme prejudice to bring home the vittles. Also to evict cave bears from their rent-controlled dwellings.

I thought that article a bit of an a***. The US is notorious for subsidizing stuff that they want to export such as corn while at the same time they hit up imports with tariffs. But then I thought that perhaps that did not matter as for Trump’s aides, it is the other side that is cheating and that is what they really believe. And Trump has made a big deal too often how other countries are cheating America. Other countries may beg to differ.

That story should indeeed be paired with the declassified report claiming that China interfered in the 2020 election. The saber rattling seems like background for further federal intervention in local election processes.

Depends on what you mean by “organizes Federal elections”. HAVA and NVRA provide significant oversight over election processes. SAVE act provides additional direction if passed. All entirely constitutional.

Dim witted supplicant Matt Taibi is angling for a CBS News job with her Genocide happy pal, Bari Weiss.

What can I read in the psycho-dynamics of Proffessor Doctorow, who bolds only the words “Russian Victory”?

Tucker Carlson interviews Benn Jordan on Flock cameras and former Pawtucket, Rhode Island policeman and whistleblower Noel Pichardo.

“Air quality is the worst in these US cities amid Canada wildfires”

I suppose that Trump could charge Canada tariffs on the import of all that unnecessary smoke. So unfair. Not like the superior smoke coming off American forests burning which is the best in the world. People are amazed at its quality.

‘US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada over wildfire smoke that has blanketed much of the northeastern United States, just days before the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey.

Trump accused Ottawa on Friday of failing to manage its forests and allowing what he described as “filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air” to cross the border.

“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming that the pollution was costing the US “billions of dollars.”

“This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence,” he added, arguing that the alleged cost “must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.” Trump said he planned to call Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to ask what Ottawa intended to do about the fires.’

re: Miller Labels Leftists a “Cancer” That World Must “Root Out” in Fascistic Speech – Truthout

A coupla months ago, didn’t Trump come out with a list of dangerous ideas to America? And included were those critical of Capitalism?

As things are going, T might just end up being remembered the way Herbert Hoover is remembered.

adding: Hoover’s presidency was a tragedy for Hoover, imo. He was until his presidency known as The Great Humanitarian. “Herbert Hoover became a WWI humanitarian by organizing major food relief for civilians in war-torn Belgium through the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB), which helped prevent catastrophic famine after Germany invaded Belgium in 1914. ”

The big mistake, which was not down to any advisor, was Hoover’s absolute faith in adhering to the Gold Standard. FDR’s thorough demolition of the Gold Standard was a masterclass in sweeping policy change, root and branch. Amazing that he pulled it off.

FDR was also much better with regard to instituting work relief and supporting unionization.

As the resident gold bug I am naturally forced to look around and wave my antennae questioningly at the idea that we’re doing so much better with our fiat – and soon to be digital – “money.”

Miller is a proto-facist. ICE paraphernalia rhymes with fascism.

My thanks to the NC community as we deal with the smoke from the wildfires. We made a Corsi-Rosenthal box last night to mitigate the air quality and relied on posts here for instructions and analysis.

If you haven’t already done so, I’d suggest getting a P100 elipse. I got some years ago for the family when wildfire smoke filled the SF bay area. I have subsequently used them for protection against Covid. Being of a certain age and having a high degree of vulnerability to respiratory infection, I still use mine while sharing air with others. I have never had Covid nor have caught the flu these last six years. Knock on wood, and fingers crossed.

Re Taibbi–I don’t even bother to check his RSS feed any more. Used to be good.

And it is remarkable the degree to which free speech warriors like Taibbi and Turley don’t seem to have a problem with Israel and the Lobby. Both have met with a lot of financial success in recent times if conclusions must be drawn.

I looked at the video clip of Scahill questioning Ro Khanna and I thought Taibbi had a valid point. The valid point is about journalistic professionalism and decorum, which Taibbi has written about since forever. It is strange to see Scahill grill Ro Khanna, who as Taibbi said is an ally on Israel Palestine issues. Taibbi makes some suppositions about social dynamics that lead to such an adversarial confrontation, which might not be true — Taibbi is relying on experience in the culture of political journalism that I don’t share.

Justin K.P. at The Dissident deliberately misunderstands Taibbi’s point. But, does so in the service of drawing attention to much bigger issues than Taibbi has chosen to address, issues Taibbi really ought to address, but I am not his assignments editor.

Agreed. Taibbi has commented (nearly whined) many times on podcasts about how he is not the boss of all journalism. He has his beats and Israel is not one of them.

People confuse Taibbi with celebrity journalists who are expected to have an opinion about everything, unlike real journalists who only comment on their areas of expertise.

I thought journalism is about holding the powerful to account and not avoiding questions if it looks like someone doesn’t have good answer. And even as activist it is the duty to keep moving the Overtone window, so it seems a bit strange to have the position that now some politicians were forced to acknowledge Israel is committing genocide, we should be all greatfull and not demand anything more. Especially we can’t point out all the blatant contradictions that keep the genocide logic going, like that Israel’s military can bomb Palestinians but they can’t shoot back against the very guys dropping the bombs on them.

I’ve been done with Taibbi for a while. But I thought the tone of the Drop Site interview with Khanna was a tactical mistake.

Well, the problem is his (and fellow left-liberal travelers) public position is intellectually dishonest and hypocritical. And the dust up is because in interviews there is the obligate question if Israel has the right to exist and defend itself, but nobody dares to ask if Palestine has the right to exist and if Palestinians have the right to defend themself, and then compare the answers. And nobody dares to ask precisely because everyone knows there is no coherent liberal answer to these. Intellectually you can either back the genocide to the hilt, or start by cutting off Israel from US military hardware and go on from there.

I don’t view that any country has a “right to exist and defend itself”.

Throughout history nations have TRIED to exist and TRIED to defend themselves, sometimes successfully.

But there is no evidence of an inherent “right to exist and defend itself” for any nation or group of people.

Obviously it isn’t somehow divinely inscribed into the universe somehow that states (or anything particular) has a right to exist and defend themselves.

But generally it should very much be against the law to destroy or “cause to fail” established states, certainly for reasons as frivolous and malicious as the ones the US and Israel have for constantly trying to do just that.

Since state collapse invariably causes mass death, mass immiseration, unimaginable, unnecessary suffering, purposely trying to destabilize a a state from the outside and throw it into chaos (especially without totally ironclad selfdefense reasons) should be seen as a crime akin to genocide.

– “Intellectually you can either back the genocide to the hilt, or start by cutting off Israel from US military hardware and go on from there.”

Your last sentence actually captures the problem I’m concerned with here. Khanna is strongly *opposed* to the genocide, and in fact is willing to use the “g-word” in calling it out. And I agree that before we get into philosophical debates about history or the “rights” of nations, the absolute, necessary starting point is to *stop the genocide,* which starts with “cutting off Israel from US military hardware” – which is what Khanna wants to do!

So what you DON’T do is invite him on a program where I’m sure he thought he would be among allies in this endeavor and discuss his recent experience in Israel, and then *attack* him as a dishonest hypocrite. That is not how you build the necessary political allies and public support to stop US funding. Rather, that is how you make fellow lefties like us – tiny minority that we actually are in the US – feel superior while remaining isolated in our ideologically pure little enclaves. As I said above, these issues could have easily been brought up in a way that both pointed out the contradictions in Khanna’s past statements without implying that his opposition was somehow fake. It was a huge tactical error.

But how do we know he really wants to stop the genocide? Obviously we can’t look into his head, we can only infer things from what he says. And here we go back to the fact that what he and the other left-liberals say is incoherent. So Israel is doing genocide and we should stop arming then, but also Israel somehow has right to do the bombing that constitutes the genocide while Palestinians have the right to peacefully voice their protest as they are killed. And then he tops it off by being unwilling to even say Palestinians have the right to attack the military personnel, which is doing the genocide. This doesn’t look like someone with developed principle, seems more like politician who can see where the wind is blowing and is just figuring it out on the fly as he is hammered by Zionists and their opponents from both sides. And I’m pretty sure the Zionist wont stop hammering.

I don’t consider it as some underhanded attack. First of all it’s politician’s job to answer questions, and it’s his fault if he stumbles on it. Second, it seems to me Scahill asked it in good faith, because it’s really obvious question. There is more of them and they need to be asked too. Even looking at it from strategic standpoint, there is no way Israel is cut off before all these things are argued out. After all Khana’s amendment failed, so nothing actually changed, only now the fanatical Zionists like Pelosi can use the vote to pretend they are against the genocide. If we want Democrats to have non-Zionist candidate in 2028, these things need to be sorted out now, so when he says in debate such banal thing like Palestinians have right to armed struggle against occupation, there will be no national pundits meltdown.

I saw the interview as well, and appreciated it, and while Drop Site is not Breaking Points, I was reminded of Krystal Ball’s interview of RFK, Jr. Ball came in for a lot of criticism for her rough treatment of Bobby, but her interview of Kennedy ended an possible interest I might have had in his candidacy. After Bobby had gone on a rant about the incestuous relationship between the FDA and Big Pharma, Ball asked RFK if he thought nationalizing pharmaceutical production, taking the profit incentive out of it, was the ultimate solution. “Oh no,” Bobby answered. It was government that was the problem. They should be taken out of the equation. Good, if adversarial, journalism, I thought.

yeah. i reckon Ro has been trying to thread a needle on this….in order to keep support from those dems who arent all in on Palestinians fighting back(as is their Right, under Geneva, et alia). as for Scahill’s soapbox…well, i get it. who does he spend his time with? a buncha now murdered Palestinian and Lebanese Journalists.he got triggered.

and Ball? welp. ive had a crush on her for a long, long time,lol. (“would that i were the breeze that plays with her hair…”)

that whole bunch is about as close to mainstream tv news as i am willing to get. they balance the sorta sane right with the actual left in a manner that should be copied far and wide. and they are apparently “nudging” the overton window, over time, too. My Mom thinks they’re all secret putinists, or something

In the end, one must be grateful for Matt Taibbi. He shows exactly where nostalgic liberal kitsch goes, when it’s cornered by reality.

It never mattered to me that his politics were not mine, and it’s not like his endpoint has invalidated the work he did during the great recession, but the motivation of that work–liberal outrage that gosh darnit, the system shouldn’t be like this, and it used to be different–guaranteed he would end up here. Eventually, the machine is visible, you have to defend it, and all you have left is this snarling meanness toward everyone born too late to have a reasonable chance (whatever that ever actually was) of getting theirs, along with a lifetime supply of bottom-of-the-barrel, we-didn’t-start-the-fire slop, like this:

I was never taught America is great because it’s richer/bigger. I heard about the light bulb,airplanes, movies, the telephone, rock, jazz, basketball, the Internet, nuclear power, Ali-Frazier, Thoreau, King, Lincoln, Twain, Chandler, the Hoover Dam and the Fender Stratocaster…

If there is a difference between him and liberals who have kept the faith, it’s that they’re self-aware enough to know that getting heckled by people who don’t like genocide is the cost of doing business.

Anyone who thinks modern pigs are ‘pink, fluffy, and slow’ clearly has never handle pigs.

Inside the Magic… Is it just me or was there no mention of the impact on marine ecosystems?

Sure there is impact. I recall the EIS for the the DDG-51 shock trials when I was in uniform. Congress mandates shock trials and DOT&E oversees. They are valuable but costly. Like anything else there is a trade to be evaluated.

US President Donald Trump declassified intelligence on Thursday that he said ​showed Chinese interference in US elections, reviving his long-running attacks on election security despite a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence Beijing altered the 2020 vote which he lost.

The China election angle is new to me but given that there is a piece of paper labeled as an intelligence assessment created by parties unknown and not necessarily even part of the US government which through means unknown to me were unable to ascertain the existence of “intelligence” about Chinese election tampering…I guess I should probably not be concerned yet I am.

It is important to find out what happened in 2020 if only so we can identify and know going forward who the real liars were. Obviously Trump’s reputation couldn’t get much lower (polling support and respect are two very different things). I find it very hard not to believe that all this massive misdirection in support of obstructing an investigation into an election that’s done and over with is being done exactly because the 2020 election was in part rigged. No election is ever wholly rigged, you just steal the votes you need. Biden’s people got way too greedy and it’s their huge numbers of votes cast that scream fraud the loudest. For our electoral democracy to work, 2020 must be investigated much more thoroughly. The methods that elected Biden are the methods that de-selected Platner, aka it’s a club and we ain’t in it.

I agree completely with you. Trump should have his day in court. That court should be located in The Hague. After that, trump should have his day on the scaffold. Strange fruit indeed.

If there was any serious evidence the administration would be in court instead of this unhinged ranting. Rather like 2020, when the gap between what Trump supporters were willing to claim in public and what their lawyers were willing to say in a courtroom was massive

I especially love the bolded reference to “a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence”! Isn’t that where Russiagate started? “a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence”?

Trump wants to play by the rulz Obama and his “Intelligence Community” invented and here we are.

The turnout numbers in 2020 are astonishing but largely explainable by the record 65 million mail-in ballots. All carefully verified, I am sure. Mail-in ballots pose no security risk — I have a University study that proves it around here somewhere.

I doubt that there’s much interest by partisans on either side in agreeing on secure features. That would endanger their respective ideas of “democracy”.

I agree as well, except for the same methods part at the end which maybe should morph into “Biden and Platner are similar data points in a greater pattern of win at all cost behavior which has now long been established”.

Judges Ask Congress for Power to Fix Crumbling Courthouses (NY Times)

Judges across the country have been complaining that their courthouses are in a dire state of disrepair, and that the G.S.A. is not doing enough to respond. The extent of the problem was highlighted in interviews with chief judges of district courts as well as in a list of maintenance issues compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which coordinates operations across the judiciary.

A judge in Oklahoma worked beside a trash bin to catch water falling from a leaking ceiling, before the problem became so severe that she was forced to move to temporary chambers for more than a year. A century-old courthouse in Asheville, N.C., is plagued by mold and a dilapidated heating system, requiring some court services to move off-site. Judges from other courthouses say the G.S.A. has been slow to address problems with critical HVAC systems, falling ceiling tiles and termites.

At Dirksen, Judge Kendall said, the G.S.A. did not fully address the water issue until after a sitting judge got sick. For years, Judge Robert W. Gettleman used the water from the sink in his chambers to brush his teeth. Then in April, the 83-year-old judge was hospitalized for meningitis and found to have pneumonia as well. Though he was not tested for Legionnaires’ disease, Judge Gettleman said in an interview, a doctor at the hospital said that ailment appeared likely based on his symptoms, and he responded well to a broad-spectrum antibiotic used to treat Legionella and other bacterial infections. (Judge Gettleman’s son is a reporter for The New York Times.)

Yeah, COVID does that too. I guess it got the water issue resolved, so hooray for that?

Judge Kendall went back to the G.S.A. and told the agency she could not stand by and see a colleague “almost die because you haven’t put in a disinfection machine,” she said in an interview. The agency was already trying to reduce bacteria by installing filtered shower heads and flushing water through the building’s pipes, but in her view that was not sufficient.

From Breaking Points. DOGE cut the programs that monitor disease outbreaks. What could go wrong?

The alt-right-ification of everything is a real humdinger. It’s like some combination of Borges, Burgess, and the 2008 film Pontypool, where words act as a virus that drives people insane. Everything is betas and Chads and foids and mogging and maxxing. Eventually, the whole world will be 4chan. (Still, I have to thank them for cuck. I distinctly recall thinking, around 15 years ago, that the absence new slang for one who is readily deceived perfectly represented the stigmatization of skepticism as fogeyish and uncool. Problem solved.)

If there’s anything strange, it’s that the left is not saying, morning, noon, and night: Capitalism is what has made you losers. It’s not like they ever shied away from clunky, tedious, 99% ineffective didacticism, before. Why now?

I heard that the Department of Defense is going to have its name changed once again. The Department of War doesn’t have the right feel for ‘swinging’ Peter Hegseth. His mandate for testosterone tests will necessitate a change to the Department Of Priapus Ebrius.

I don’t know this might have something to do with your definition of “the left” The leftists I know do say morning noon and night that it is capitalism that has brought our destruction.

Of course they do, in general–including when it has very little chance of converting anyone, as I alluded to. Which is why the absence of outreach or messaging to young men vulnerable to the alt-right is so conspicuous. How hard would it be for a leftist to appeal to Nick Fuentes’ audience? Someone like Russell Dobular (whom I like but often disagree with, and who is in his mid-50s) will occasionally say something empathetic about the toxic brew of circumstances facing young men, but most of the online left 40-ish or younger either treat them as irreclaimably unclean, or just enjoy making fun of them for being incels (you know, the thing they proudly are–great strategy).

There was an LRB piece not long ago (I may have encountered it through the daily links here, though I can’t be sure) that acknowledges “[t]he anxieties [Andrew] Tate addresses are real” and quotes anthropologist Kristen Ghodsee stating that “there’s almost a nascent anti-capitalist impulse here being hijacked toward reactionary ends,” but its author doesn’t consider alt-right men as reclaimable, either.

I know I’ve said a hundred times…but this site is the best ….and new writers are great….I know I’ve got about 100 more people to follow….and I post from this site daily. Even among my anarchist comrades, we all agree. The wealth of information, and variety ….is just amazing.

All the highways to get to my house are under fire closure for normal traffic; I sneaked in last night. My place is right near the middle of the cluster of fires in Oregon shown on the map in the Daniel Swaim X post. Our former family ranch has a fire on it, the nearest town is under a “Go Now” order, two valleys over is a seven thousand acre fire, up the river ten miles is a bigger one — I count about ten fires within 15 air miles.

This is the second time this year I’ve cleared out my irreplaceable things, a list of which has gotten smaller every year — now it is down to family albums, fifty years of climbing slides, two pairs of cross country skis and boots, a couple sleeping bags and tents, a small pack of climbing gear, and a couple books.

That’s the 21st Century Pacific Northwest. You don’t drive through Seattle, there is a favela north of Bend, you don’t expect a smoke free Summer, and east of the mountains you’re ready to bail. My sister will be moving the important stuff out for me today, while I keep watch at home and pack the “Category B” stuff. It was lucky she just happened to be visiting when the fire broke out, which gave me enough time to come up from California last night. This is the latest version of normal; the old PNW is not coming back.

With the site administrators’ permission. A question on medical pricing. A myocardial perfusive multi item PET test: $12,503 the ‘original’ charge. $3748 “expected” from Medicare $721 20% ‘skin in the game’ charge Is this how bad American medicine is today? Plus, none of the stand-alone imaging clinics within several hundred miles of South Mississippi accepts Medicare. I also noticed that almost none of the hospitals and clinics listed online will show basic charges without a telephone call to their offices. Not even “industry standard” prices. The ones that did were generally a half of the price quoted me by my local “Not For Profit” Mega Hospital, but all wanted full price, and some demanded full payment up front. I guess I’m going to have to stand out in a thunderstorm holding a lightning rod and have Phyllis photograph me when a bolt of lightning lights me up. Thanks for your indulgence. Stay safer than me.

This site has some 2025 info that might be useful. Best wishes. Stay extra safe. / ;)

adding: on the theory PE owned hospitals are probably the most expensive, here’s a PE owned hospitals list you can filter by state.

Thanks flora. I need all the help I can get navigating the gates, chutes and ladders that constitute this “Greatest of All Possible Systems.” (As the signs on the London Underground advise; Mind the GAPS.) Enjoy the weekend.

Did a particular doctor say that you needed this? Maybe the nurses in that doctor’s office would have some ideas about what facilities are the best price. Or even the nurses in your GP’s office (if you have a GP). Or if they don’t know themselves, maybe they would have some leads.

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I just looked around online and there is a lot of sort-of information about prices, but for real prices I think you would have to call.

Thanks, but even the nurses in the clinics now are scared to step outside the “officially” approved lines. This procedure was “suggested” by a Nurse Practitioner in the Cardiologist’s office. I was sent to the cardiologist by my GP medica. I was surprised to encounter this woman. I usually have had consultations with the Cardiologist himself before. I have been getting the “vibe” lately that the upper reaches of management at the hospital clinic conglomerate are “nudging” their employees to schedule as many high dollar tests as possible. Even simpler, less expensive tests are not available anymore. My first cardio stress test about fifteen years ago was a treadmill with dye injection and then CT scan. With private medical insurance from work I was billed about three hundred dollars. I have found that just about all of the clinics’ and hospitals’ websites are now simply Infomercials for their particular facility. The dumbing down of the populace is proceeding apace. Thanks again and good luck with your problem as well. Getting old has turned out to be a pain, in the everything. Stay safe as houses.

Jumping in here with some unsolicited advice: consider getting your medical care abroad. You live in Texas, correct? The large city of Monterrey can’t be too far from you. I’ve only gotten minor dental care in Mexico myself, but it was easy to find, good quality and cheap cheap cheap. I speak a little Spanish but my research indicated that it’s tolerably easy to find care in English. If you’re going to pay out the nose anyway, why not pair it with a vacation and friendly, competent staff who are happy for your business? Best wishes for a swift and positive resolution to your health troubles.

Yesterday 29 countries met in Shanghai and established the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO). Even Guterres (the mostly useless UN secretary-general) was present.

The organization aims to pull some weight in UN on AI governance etc, and apparently make it more equal globally by preventing what they call “technological colonization”. According to Chinese foreign minister Wang, “China stands ready to work with Russia to enhance artificial intelligence capacity building for countries in the Global South”.

Can OpenAI business model (if one can be perceived) survive that?

By banning everyone but Open AI out of NATO territory? And if you don’t comply as user living in a blessed NATO country you go to prison. Or is that too dumb?

To clarify, I believe that Mr Market is feeling uneasy. When the whole herd stands up at 3 AM and starts milling around almost anything can set off a stampede. That’s where we are, good news about about Operation AIPAC Fury might calm things down for a day or two, but that’s about it. The timing is, as always, difficult to predict. My gut feeling is that we are close to the AI Bubble popping and I think that it will happen before Labor Day.

I need to work on my “Gushing” skills. Openly disagreeing about the view from the Overton window may become dangerous for even “Little People” like myself. Many decades ago I was acquainted with a Woman named Lillian whose last name was not Gish. She could Gush enthusiastically about anything, but it was usually about something idiotic… And she could take it right up to the line without ever stepping over it into satire. She looked and sounded utterly sincere.

She couldn’t keep the laugh out of her eyes, but very few people noticed.

conversation between Chris Hedges and Extinction Rebellion co-founder Roger Hallam Democracy Necessitates Resistance (w/ Roger Hallam)

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